Store Owner Helps Cops Bust Serial Burglar

Store Owner Helps Cops Bust Serial Burglar
Photo: Brian Christopher Schotz

Santa Barbara – 44-year-old Brian Christopher Schotz, recently released from state prison where he served time for a series of commercial burglaries in 2018, was free under the terms of post release community supervision on May 22nd when he was arrested once again on suspicion of committing no less than ten burglaries over the past month.

According to Santa Barbara Police Department spokesman Sgt. Riley Harwood, by May 22nd SBPD detectives were actively investigating “a pattern of criminal activity that pointed to Schotz as the culprit in a string of recent commercial burglaries.” Because of his prior history, Schotz was the focus of law enforcement interest when several reports of business establishment burglaries were received by SBPD Dispatch operators.

In the pre-dawn hours of the 22nd, cops arrived at a downtown store that had just been burglarized. At the scene, officers “found evidence possibly associating the crime to Schotz,” who then became the target of a “saturated search effort.”

Less than an hour later, another burglary was reported just a few blocks away. Again, cops “flooded the area” in an effort to locate Schotz, but failed in that effort. During the course of this second investigation, a burglary in progress was reported at yet another business establishment.

This time, the business owner was watching a live video feed and was able to direct responding officers to the suspect inside the store by providing “a business layout, path of approach, and detailed suspect description.”

Officers arrived at the third burglary location and “swarmed the area” as they found Schotz inside the store and took him into custody. He was then transported to Santa Barbara County Jail, where he was booked on no less than ten charges of commercial burglary. He remains in custody on a no-bail hold.

Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking

Store Owner Helps Cops Bust Serial Burglar was last modified: June 6th, 2019 by admin
Categories: Santa Barbara
Tags: burglar

About Author